Dear friends in Christ

This Sunday we begin to read from the sixth Chapter of St John’s Gospel at Sunday Mass. It is often referred to as the Eucharistic Discourse because beginning with the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, Jesus goes on to explain that what He is really about is preparing them to receive the gift of Himself in the Blessed Eucharist. The food that they receive for their bodies is a figure of the food He will give for the nourishment of our souls. So over these next weeks at Mass we shall try to say something important about this central Mystery of Faith whereby Our Lord communicates Himself to us under the forms of bread and wine. In the Eucharist, Jesus takes something small - bread and wine - and transforms them into something infinite: His Body and Blood. We can also see this, a symbol of the life of us Christians: if we give the seemingly small and insignificant things we do to God, these can be transformed into something truly great: our holiness.

This weekend begins our Diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes. On Sunday I shall be travelling with our Bishop and over four hundred other pilgrims to the shrine in France during which time we shall be holding all of the intentions of the Diocese in our hearts and prayers. There is also a group of young people from the Parish going to be present, helping the sick, and they wish to assure you all also of their prayers, Please pray that we have a safe and fruitful pilgrimage. I shall be returning mid-week as the Bishop remains there until the weekend. God bless you all!

Msgr Kevin Hale